The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Surgical or medical procedures are often performed on a body, for example a human body or anatomy, to repair or replace various portions thereof. For example, the soft tissues of the body may need to be reattached to bones due to trauma, overuse, surgical intervention, or disease.
Soft tissue can be reattached to bone using devices such as screws, staples, and various types of suture anchors. Soft tissues are often fixed to various positions on the bone. For example, to replace a natural tendon fixation point or to replace the tendon itself, fixing a graft to a selected bone area may be desired. One means to fix the soft tissue to the selected area is to provide a suture through a selected portion of the soft tissue and fix the other end of the suture to a selected area on the bone. Various structures can be provided to anchor or hold the suture in the selected bone area. To secure the sutures, the free ends of the suture are tied together to form a knot.
The use of knots in surgical procedures, however, can be improved upon. First, in minimally invasive procedures, such as arthroscopic or laparoscopic procedures, the surgical site is not readily accessible and limits the surgeon's ability to tie a knot manually and the site must be secured remotely. One remote method of securing the suture is tying each of the suture ends into a knot extracorporeally and then remotely advancing the knot into the surgical site using suitably configured instruments. Securing the suture remotely can be cumbersome and time consuming.
Second, knots may create stress points in a suture on opposite sides of the knot. When a failure load is applied to a knotted suture, the suture may break at the knot, even though the suture is otherwise free from imperfections.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved devices for securing a suture without a knot. There is a need for surgical methods to facilitate easy and efficient securing of the suture.